


Ride or Die

by ArisHawthorne



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: M/M, The Fast and Furious AU, lots of crime and cars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2015-10-15
Packaged: 2018-04-20 06:54:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4777748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArisHawthorne/pseuds/ArisHawthorne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hideyoshi Nagachika is an working undercover on a mission to uncover the truth about Kaneki Ken's crimes. What he finds instead is something he never asked for and something he will eventually have to choose between.</p><p>Will he stay on the path of justice... or will he get lost in a world of drag racing and truths hidden deep?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Undercover

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vectacular](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vectacular/gifts).



For the last couple of years, Hideyoshi Nagachika was a cop and was damned good at it. He took to training easily and excelled at hand to hand combat; he could shoot guns and was never too far off his target.

  
It was obvious from day one that Hide could handle a life of serving justice and stopping crime dead in its tracks.

  
There was a time before all of that though; a time when everyone around him including himself believed that Hide would end up on the other side of the bars. It wasn't like he was robbing banks or committing cold blooded murder.

  
No. Hide knew his way around a  _car_. Hotwiring, drag racing, cleaning up a dingy piece of shit only to make it look brand spanking new-- you name it and Hide could probably do it and then make you believe his lies that he  _didn't_. Hide could probably sweet talk you into doing the illegal work and keeping his hands clean of it if he really wanted to (which he never did...because how  _boring_  would that be?)

  
No one knew how Hide learned to manipulate people, but some say it was a natural gift. His background and power of manipulation are what made him an asset to the police force and what drew him in in the first place.

  
Eventually it was no surprise to anyone when Hide was called into Tsuneyoshi Washuu's office and landed a job that was perfect for someone like Hide. The chance to get behind the wheel of a sweet ride and pretend to be someone else (or rather, the person he used to be).

  
The chance to go undercover.

* * *

 

  
Anteiku: a small coffee shop that sat smack dab in the center of the 20th Ward of Tokyo, Japan. It was known for its coffee along with its rather colourful mix of employees. Behind it was a small garage which used to hold the back stock off food and coffee beans for the cafe, but was now being used for its intended purpose.

  
The old man that used to run the business and own the property passed away a few years back. It was left to a new owner; known for being a hard ass on the surface but caring for the people who were part of his crew.

  
Kaneki Ken. The person Hide was investigating or  _should_  have been...if he was actually around to investigate. Without a clear indication of where the coffee shop/garage manager went off to, Hide was left to survey his surroundings. Just like he did every morning for the past week, the blonde sauntered through the front door and sat down at the counter. The girl would notice him and walk over to place the menu in front of him. Brown hair, brown eyes, and most likely barely passed the age of 16. She offered the same warm smile every day before asking the usual, "can I take your order?"

  
"I heard the bacon and egg croissant that you guys serve here is really good."  _Try to create small talk and then try to ask little, but important questions that could build the case._

  
"Don't you say that every morning? Only you go down the menu and change the food choice every day?" Her brown eyes shift down to the menu, but her smile remained.

  
"I was hoping to get your opinion. It's totally not my fault that everything on the menu screams deliciousness." He smirked. "So far, everything I've had  _has_  been rather good."

  
"You lie. Nobody here that has any brains would order the food here...everyone knows that it’s all terrible." Her nose wrinkled in distaste. "All except you, apparently."

  
He closed the menu and extended it over to her.

  
"In that case, I'll take a regular coffee with cream and sugar. You can surprise me with the rest of the order."

  
That one morning in particular was different, aside from the fact that his waitress decided to make him what he assumed was supposed to be oatmeal (and playfully called "questionable grey lumpy stuff”). Three men came in from the back door to the garage while the waitress conversed with Hide and the shorter of the three stormed over to them both. His purple eyes were aflame with fury as he pulled Hide up from the barstool. For a kid that was about the waitress's age he was  _strong._

  
"Get out, Asshat." The two men that came in with him gripped onto his shirt and reeled him back from another attack to the blonde. "Hinami told me about how you have been coming in here every damn day and I don't like anyone flirting with her. She's mine!"

  
"Ayato, stop it!" The waitress, or Hinami as she was called, threw off her apron and ran around the counter to help in holding him back. "I told you many times already that he wasn't flirting...he's a friendly guy. That's all!" She remained in his personal bubble and held the other’s gaze before his anger seeped into long, deep breaths. “Nagachika-san, you should go. Nishiki… please watch the front while I take Ayato upstairs.” One of the other men that was previously holding Ayato back suddenly groaned and walked behind the counter. The last thing Hide heard was a string of complaints from the mechanic-turned-waiter as he pulled the strings of the apron tightly around him.

  
“I don’t know why it’s always  _me_  that has to pick up the slack every time Ayato has a damn temper tantrum.”

* * *

 

  
The following night was spent digging up information. The cop was able to gather three names and started to research all the usual things; basic personal information, work history, and criminal backgrounds. Not much could really be said for Hinami Fueguchi other than her being a student struggling through school and working at Anteiku. If she was involved with Kaneki Ken’s backdoor schemes then she obviously knew how to keep her hands clean.

  
The other two were not so clean, and Hide made sure to bring in the information he found out the next morning.

  
“Ayato Kirishima has been in and out of Juvenile correction facilities since the age of fourteen and has been involved in vandalism of school property beforehand. He recently got out for boosting cars. Nishio Nishiki has less of a record, but there are reports of illegal drag racing, and speeding tickets under his belt;  _unpaid_ , might I add.” The police officers sitting in front of him looked over the folders of sources that Hide pulled his information from. Akira Mado was the first to look up from her papers.

  
“There are more in his group, so continue what you’re doing and be on the look out for the others. If Kaneki Ken wasn’t around then he was probably doing something illegal… and  _stupid_.”

  
“I would use that car we supplied you for bragging rights,” Takizawa added. Hide tried to suppress a snort of laughter; there was a difference between a halfway decent car and one that was entitled to  _bragging_  rights.

  
“It’s not much to really brag about, Seidou-san… I’ll become more of a laughing stock parking that-”  _Piece of shit with too much chrome and not enough power to even consider it as anything close to a racing car?_ “ _vehicle_  in front of that garage. I’ll need a few cars to choose from and then rework so it’s fit for drifting… and speed. If Kaneki Ken is ever given the opportunity to race me, he’ll need to know from appearance alone that he won’t stand a chance.”

* * *

 

  
Despite the fact that he was told to leave the day before, Hide returned back to the coffee shop expecting to find Hinami. If he could offer some sort of apology to the young girl for what happened between Ayato and himself, he could get on her good side. Maybe she would even put in effort when she made his meal this time. It all went out the window when he stepped into the establishment and was met with a pair of cold, steel coloured eyes.

  
Ah. So  _that’s_  Kaneki.

  
“Good morning!” Hide greeted the manager with a flash of pearly white teeth.

  
“It’s the afternoon,” Kaneki deadpanned. He never let his eyes wander from the blonde as he sat down in front of him. Kaneki was nothing like Hinami; for the most part she was sweet.

  
Hinami would have offered him a menu and created some kind of inviting aura to help Hide feel welcomed.

  
“I’m going to make something perfectly clear,” Kaneki continued with the same tone, but underneath those words laid something venomous. “I heard that you have gotten too close to my sister and disrespected my younger brother. Just think about that the next time you come in, or I will show you just how much I don’t appreciate your presence here.”  _Seriously? What is it with this family_?

  
“Look I don’t know what you were told, but my kindness has obviously been mistaken for flirting and that was never my intention.” The blonde wrinkled his face in obvious distaste. “I’m not a creep either; she’s a  _teenager_.”

  
“You’re right. She’s a teenager who doesn’t need  _your_  type of kindness.” After what seemed like far too long, Kaneki finally averted his eyes down to the coffee pot in front of him. A frown fell onto his face as he peered into the empty container before placing it down into the sink. “...We don’t need your business either, please leave.”

  
 _Incredible_ , Hide thought to himself as he watched Kaneki fold his arms across his chest.  _Hard ass was barely grazing the surface when it came to all the colourful words I could use to better describe Kaneki_.  _Asshole with a major stick up his ass sounds_ much  _more realistic._

  
“It was a  _pleasure_  to meet you.” He laced his words with sarcasm and watched as Kaneki looked back up at him and narrowed his eyes into slits. “Oh and… you may want to soften your face a little bit… before it gets stuck like that.”

  
It was the straw that broke the camel’s back because Hide’s last comment broke what little of Kaneki’s patience he had left. Kaneki’s fist connected with the side of his face and Hide took the sudden throbbing of pain as an answer to his statement. He got knocked to the floor and scrambled around to get back to his feet when he heard soft footsteps approaching him.

Kaneki kneeled down to face him with a smirk on his lips.

  
“Does my face look softened enough for you now?”

* * *

 

  
A blank word document stared him in the face silently demanding him for the report that he should have sent in hours ago. Now that he was acquainted with Kaneki and learned some of his lovely characteristics and mannerisms ( _ha, what mannerisms_?) he was supposed to report it. In what way could he word, “Kaneki is rude and clearly has anger management issues,” into a full page-long report? It was hard enough trying to think straight with the right side of his face pressed against a bag of frozen peas. His skin throbbed against the coldness that he could only hope would bring the swelling down by tomorrow.

  
Preferably before he had to go into the office and face all of his co-workers.

  
This job was supposed to be easy; all of his skill sets should have made Kaneki and his gang accept him, but with Kaneki already throwing him outside of his circle of people… it would be hard to manipulate him into giving him the information when Kaneki hated his guts.

  
For something he didn’t even  _do_.

  
Just as he was about to push the lid of his laptop down in defeat, a notification sound came through the speakers and a chatbox appeared in front of the word document.

  
 **AmonK:** We found a car for you.

  
Ah. Now  _that_ was music to his ears. Scratch that. Now that was pleasing to his eyes.

  
 **NagachikaH:**  I should probably be the judge of that.

  
 **AmonK:**  I think you’ll be pleased with our selection… if you’ll be putting all the necessary work into it.

  
 _Oh don’t worry, I will be_ , Hide thought with a small smile. He couldn’t wait to get his hands dirty under the hood of a car again.

  
 **AmonK:** I apologize over the fact that it’s an older model, but it’s a 1994 Veilside Mazda RX7. Would that be enough for those bragging rights you wanted?

  
 _Well damn_.

  
 **NagachikaH:** It will be when I’m done with it!


	2. Pain and Theft

Kaneki could  _smell_ the familiar stench of blood and cigarette smoke, but he wasn’t entirely sure of who he smelled it from anymore. It was Yamori’s scent, one that would never change from what Kaneki remembered from the time he was kidnapped. It’s been four years since then and there were nights when he hasn’t even seen Yamori and the smell was there.

It was there because it had become Kaneki’s smell. Cigarettes, gunsmoke, and the blood of people who got hurt during the jobs he was tasked with.

  
Sometimes it was  _his own_  blood that he smelled.

  
It made him remember the things he wanted to forget; being led into the basement of the Aogiri nightclub and all the days and nights that blurred together from the endless pain he was put through. Yamori’s presence alone made him feel no different from the person he was back then, especially now that Yamori sat in front of him from behind a mahogany desk. A cigar hung from his lips as he eyed Kaneki with a grin, scanning up and down his body like he was a piece of meat being inspected.

  
This was the way his life has been like since Yoshimura passed away. All of those debts that Kuzen owed Yamori from a job gone sour and to the Tsukiyama family for supply half of what was owed to save Kaneki from anymore torment…

  
In total, 120,698,000,000 yen.

  
Yamori was strict about having his payments on time, but sometimes Kaneki couldn’t figure out who he hated being indebted to more. What was more preferable; getting the snot beat out of him by Aogiri goons, or being under Tsukiyama Shuu as he pretended to enjoy the older male’s touches.

  
It was the nights he spent with Shuu that made Kaneki realise he would be in debt for the rest of his life.

  
Needless to say, it’s been a  **terrible**  life so far.

  
“You’ll have the rest of what I owe you this month by the end of the week.” Kaneki extended the envelope containing most of Anteiku’s earnings to his debt collector, who’s smile only grew at the sight of Kaneki’s black fingernails; at the aftermath of what he did to Kaneki when he pulled off his finger and toenails every time they grew back in.

  
“You better, or you know what will happen.” A low chuckle escaped in breaths of smoke that was directed in Kaneki’s direction. “You wouldn’t want one of your little sisters to pay the consequences, right? What were their names again? Touka… and Hinami?”  _Go to hell._ He wants to yell those words at Yamori. Right in his face. Getting up from his chair, Yamori slowly made his way over to Kaneki to stand in front of him as he inhaled more of the chemicals and tobacco from his cigar. Smoke was blown in Kaneki’s face which only made him wince and close his eyes. “Do you think they’ll break as easily as you did? Will Touka beg on her knees for mercy? What about Hinami… she’s the youngest isn’t she? She’ll probably cry more than you did.”

  
“Like I said-” Kaneki shooed away the smoke that lingered between them. “You’ll have your damn money by the end of the week.” The stress, nerves and absolute hatred that built up inside him mixed with the smell of the cigar smoke made Kaneki  _crave_  a cigarette from the pack sitting in his pocket. There was a quiver in his voice that didn’t belong there and he didn’t like it. It made him sound weak.

  
Kaneki was  _not_  weak. Not anymore.

  
_I’ll never let you hurt my family_.

* * *

  
Every step he took toward the passenger side of the Peugeot EX1 made the nausea building up in his stomach only get worse. Shuu sat in the driver’s seat and was occupied with something that was playing on his phone. It wasn’t until Kaneki slid in next to him and slammed the door that Tsukiyama even took any notice that anyone was there with him. Kaneki’s shaking fingers reached into his pocket for his pack of smokes and the shaking only got worse when Kaneki placed a cigarette between his lips and tried to light it.

  
“Here.” A pair of hands settled around Kaneki’s hand that was currently holding the lighter. “Let me.” He relinquished his hold on the lighter and let Shuu light the tip of the only salvation Kaneki currently had to calm himself down.

  
“Thank you,” Kaneki replied, voice still slightly quivering. He inhaled slowly until the smoke traveled down, down,  _down_  into his lungs and then exhaled. After a few minutes, when the cigarette was mostly gone and the sound of sweet silence calmed the white haired male down, Kaneki finally felt like he could speak. “I bought us three more days. If that car shipment leaves on time for tomorrow, then we’ll be leaving for Osaka at 6 am to catch it.” He took one last drag before throwing the cigarette butt outside the car. “I hate to say it… but we’ll need Touka for this one.” It was more than just hating the idea of Touka being involved with anything concerning the criminal lifestyle; it was putting her in any danger to begin with, risking her chance at ever having a normal life anymore then he already has. Touka could do what they couldn’t though.

  
Touka was fearless. She never hesitated to do what was asked of her when it came to any of their heists and made climbing onto a moving car look  _easy_.

  
“Aw, but I thought we were going to have some alone time… away from your sisters and brother.”  _God dammit, why_? He wished that the hand being placed on his upper thigh was just imaginary and that Shuu was just as concerned about Touka’s safety as he was and  _not_ with when he was gonna get  _laid_  next.

  
_Typical fucking behavior_.

  
“I’m not in the mood,” Kaneki stated flatly, looking over at the other male with a stern stare. “Now put your hand back on the gear shift and get us out of here.”

  
“I’ll let that slide,” Shuu told him, following Kaneki’s orders even though Kaneki clearly had no jurisdiction in their…  _whatever_  they were. “Just remember that you owe next time, Kaneki-kun.”

  
_I owe everyone something_ , Kaneki wanted to say, but held his tongue. He was much too exhausted to say much else.

* * *

  
When it came to the cars they used for their jobs, speed was the only thing Kaneki was concerned about. The less memorable their rides were, the better the chance they had at not getting caught. Touka’s rap sheet was still clean with the exception of a shoplifting incident a few years back. If Ken had it his way Touka wouldn’t have been involved in their crimes at all, but she had a gift and she made that very well known.

  
Her gift of fluid movement. Her gift of fearlessness.

  
The night before they left, Kaneki filled his younger sister in on what their job was. A semi truck was scheduled to deliver a top of the line, best of the  _best_ , Lexus LFA. With the use of a grapple gun, Touka had to get herself inside the back of the truck while Kaneki and Shuu distracted the driver and steal the car.

  
They’ve done harder jobs than that, but Kaneki’s anxiety still continued to spike higher and higher as they followed Shuu down the road.

  
It didn’t matter how many times Touka yelled at him to not worry about her and that she would be  _fine_ , to quit mothering her like some kind of chicken. The idea of something happening continued to nag at him, which probably ended up jinxing them in the long run.

  
Needless to say, things were  _not_  going according to plan.

  
It was supposed to be an easy enough job. With Kaneki keeping close to the truck in front of them and Touka on the hood of his car, she managed to shoot the grapple where it attached to the back of the semi truck.

  
“Hang tight,” Kaneki warned, waiting until Touka had a solid grip on the passenger side’s open window frame before slamming on his brakes and bringing his car to a complete stop. The truck kept moving with Shuu driving alongside him, distracting the driver from what was going on behind him. The grapple line reached an end and pulled the back sliding door of the truck clean off and Kaneki had to swerve over to the left hand side to avoid both Touka and himself from the door coming toward them and crushing them both.

  
“What an adrenaline rush!” Touka exclaimed, throwing a smirk over her shoulder at her older brother. She didn’t need a walkie talkie for Kaneki to hear her.

  
“Pay attention,” Kaneki mouthed, depressing the clutch so he could speed back up to the truck. He needed to get behind it again so Touka could get herself into the car sitting inside. For the most part, Touka seemed to be enjoying herself; Kaneki could only hope that she wouldn’t like doing these jobs too much.

  
“ _Kaneki-kun_!” Tsukiyama’s voice came over the walkie-talking nestled in between the seats, but he would have to wait a few minutes for a reply. Ken was already so close to where they needed to be. It wasn’t until Touka was close enough where she could jump onto the truck bed that he heard Shuu’s voice again. “ _Tell Touka to hurry it the hell up with the hot wiring! He’s got a partner with him, and they both have guns_!”

  
“ _I can hear you, Shit-for-Brains_.” She sounded cool and collected, but the sheer lock of horror on her face when she looked back at Kaneki was unmissable. It was the first time that Touka ever looked genuinely scared. “ _How much time do I have to actually pull this off_?”

  
Right after she spoke, a single gunshot was fired and Shuu’s wheel skidded against the pavement.

  
“You have five minutes,” Kaneki said. He swerved over into the opposite lane in an attempt to catch up with Shuu, who for whatever reason was still trying to distract the driver. “Shuu stop what you’re doing and jump into my car. I have a backup plan.”

  
“ _Oh… good._ ” He pulled over to the side of the road and waited until Kaneki pulled up beside him to practically fling himself into the passenger seat. They needed to catch back up with Touka. “…Kaneki.”

  
Kaneki didn’t need to ask what Shuu was about to say. He could see the armed man standing on top of the semi truck with his own eyes and his heart stopped at the sight.

* * *

  
“Stop fussing over me, I’m fine!” With a newly adorned cast that reached up to her shoulder on her right arm, Touka sat on her bed and glared at her mother hen of a brother. Kaneki knew he was giving her a ton of attention, but after what happened he couldn’t stop himself. Never in his life had he ever felt so guilty over something and now Touka would bear the scar of that reminder for the rest of her life.

 

“Sorry.” His voice was quiet and the last thing he could do was look her in the eyes.  _This is my fault_.

  
“Quit blaming yourself, Shitty-Kaneki. This is what we do; there’s always the chance that one of us is going to pay the consequences.” Without another word she laid down on her side facing away from her older brother. “Now get  _out_ and go to sleep.”

  
He wouldn’t say another thing; he didn’t need to. After such a rough day and without a car to give to Yamori he was probably as good as dead anyway. There was no way he would be able to get 45,153,750 yen by the end of the week, or even by the end of the  _month_.

  
Kaneki needed sleep; he could feel the exhaustion in every part of his body.

  
“Kaneki…”  _No. Oh god, please no._

  
“I told you to leave about an hour ago.” He passed the purple haired male to get to the kitchen so he could make himself a cup of coffee.  _No. Not coffee. I need tea, or something to help me fall asleep._

  
“I would just like to explain… I’m feel absolutely terrible over what happened.” His pleading tone did nothing to help himself out.

  
“Good.” Kaneki had meant for the word to sound harsh and unforgiving, but it sounded tired and just done. “Please Tsukiyama-san. Get out of my house.”

  
“If there’s anything I can do-”  _Does he really have to keep_ pushing?

  
“I could have lost her…” Steel colored eyes rose up to meet Shuu’s and he hoped the older male could feel the seething rage that was about to be released from his body. “I don’t even want to look at you right now. Do you even realise what you’ve done?” Probably not. Tsukiyama’s family ran an international drug cartel which basically meant that Shuu had a tremendous amount of money.

  
They had enough money to pay Yamori half the money Yoshitoki owed him so they could free Kaneki of the endless amounts of torture Yamori liked to inflict on him. In retrospect, Kaneki should have been graveling at the Tsukiyama family’s feet for supplying the funds to rescue him. In actuality though… it meant dealing with people who thought they could pay their way out of their problems, and Shuu was no exception. Kaneki knew the response that came from Tsukiyama’s mouth before it even formed into words.

  
“I’ll take care of it.”

  
“This is about more than just money, Shuu!” Kaneki exclaimed, his voice rising higher than anticipated. He could feel his entire body quaking and the only two things he wanted in that moment was for his partner to disappear and a cigarette in his hand. “I trusted you! You were supposed to be there for Touka-chan so she could get out of that truck unscathed! You… you weren’t  _there_!”

  
At the time, the only thing on the white haired male’s mind was his sister’s safety. Kaneki tried to help Touka hot wire the car, but the armed man hopped down from the roof of the truck and held them both at gunpoint. He could remember screaming for Shuu to pull close enough to the truck so Touka could make the jump; he could remember the other man’s hands around his neck when Kaneki was fortunate enough to knock the gun from his grasp.

  
He could remember the sound of the police sirens heading in their direction and the mortified look on Shuu’s face when he heard it before swerving out from behind the truck and booking it down the road like his life depended on it. Then Touka jumped out and was lucky that  her only major injury was a broken arm and a horrendous case of road rash.

  
Unfortunately, Kaneki was the one that lucked out. The semi truck slowed down enough where Kaneki could jump out toward the side of the road and into the shrubbery before making his way over to Touka and getting her out of harm’s way.

  
The walk to the hospital was killer though; they both  _ached_.

  
“It was my fault, okay! What more do you want me to say?” Shuu pulled Kaneki into a tight hug, which made his muscles burn in pain. A small whimper escaped his lips as he tried to shove Shuu away from him. “…Did you get your injuries checked at the hospital when you brought Touka-chan in?” Kaneki shook his head and tore his gaze away from the other male.

  
“Touka’s hospital bill… I barely have enough to pay for that, much less  _two_.”

  
“Let me take care of it.” Kaneki let out an annoyed huff in reply. “Your wounds, Touka’s hospital bill, Yamori’s debt… it was my fault we couldn’t get the job done. The least I can do is pay for my mistakes.” When nothing was said in return, the taller male offered a gentle push in the direction of Kaneki’s bedroom. Kaneki welcomed the sight of the familiar bedspread and the pillows that matched along with them. He relished in the softness of the fabric against his face when he finally laid facedown on the mattress and wished he didn’t have to ever leave it. The exhaustion creeped up on him and tried to pull him into slumber in a matter of seconds, but Shuu beckoned him to sit back up so he could remove Kaneki’s shirt and pants.

  
“Je suis désolé,” he heard Shuu mutter against his skin, before placing a chaste kiss on Kaneki’s shoulder. The gentle touch made him hiss in pain and he looked at the bloody mess that resided there. “You can lay down again… I can take care of it from here.”

  
“I’ll only owe you and your family more…” Kaneki commented in a whisper. Did he owe Shuu for  _paying for his mistakes_?

  
“Non.” Turning his head so he could watch what Shuu was doing, he noted how Shuu looked in the lighting of his bedroom. Or maybe it wasn’t the lighting; maybe it was just how he always looked and Kaneki was too blinded by his debts to really notice it. Shouldn’t he be happy to be stuck with someone who was so… beautiful? Shuu pressed a cotton ball up against the lid to the alcohol container and offered Kaneki an apologetic expression. “This will sting a bit, mon amour.”

  
_It doesn’t matter,_  Kaneki thinks to himself as he bites back a groan when the cotton ball meets his open wound.  _I’ve felt pain much worse than this_.

* * *

  
Mornings in Kaneki’s household were always slow and if there was some sort of conflict between the siblings, it was  _painful_  too. It would be stupid to expect any different, so waking up to Ayato and Hinami yelling at each other in the hallway was like an alarm clock.

  
“He wasn’t flirting with me!” Hinami yelled, followed by a door being slammed.

  
“Right because coming into the damn diner every fucking morning is not flirting! That’s a load of bullshit and you know it!”

  
“Would you two shut the hell up!” Touka joined in on the frey. “We got in late last night!”

  
It was obviously time for Kaneki to wake up and deal with the nonsense and he cursed his bed for being so comfortable. So  _warm_. Blinking open his eyes he was met with another body in his bed, curled away from him. He waited until it registered that it was just Shuu, who probably crashed after taking care of his wounds. With Shuu being a heavy sleeper, it was easy enough to get out of bed without him stirring. Good. He could do with a shower by himself and hopefully a morning with just him and his family.

  
The heated water pelting down on his skin eased his sore muscles and burned into the wounds that were now stitched closed. He stood under the faucet and let himself fully wake up from the few hours of sleep that he got before reaching for the expensive brand of French shampoo that was given to him (“they’ll be sent to your house in bulk, Kaneki-kun. You have the worst split ends I’ve ever  _seen_.”)

  
Okay, so maybe Tsukiyama tends to spoil him and his family rotten because of their little agreement, but it didn’t mean that Kaneki couldn’t cater to his siblings’ needs on his own. Or maybe he was being ungrateful, not that Kaneki would really like to ever admit that out loud. The last thing he wanted was for his family to get used to the perks; the car parts for the garage, the kitchen appliances sitting in the diner; Shuu even went as far to get Touka and Hinami really high end  _makeup_. Not that they ever used the products.

  
Sooner or later (later being the most probable), Shuu won’t be in the picture anymore. Kaneki will have a stable,  _legal_  income and they won’t live under any threats. They’ll live scott free.

  
Or… one can at least dream, right?

  
Thirty minutes later, Kaneki finally steps out of the shower and tiptoed around the bedroom in search of a clean pair of slacks and something that he could risk getting dirty. Most of his clothes were spotted with grease stains and some even had splotches of blood that he could never get out in the washing machine. He settled on a black, short sleeved shirt and threw one last glance at the person still curled up in the tangle of blankets and sheets before exiting the room.

  
“Oi!” Ayato charged over to him as soon as he closed the bedroom door. “I need you to do something for me.”

  
“Ayato-”

  
“Shut up and listen.” His tone, and the way he spoke earned him a warning glance from the older male which didn’t stop Ayato from following his brother into the kitchen. Kaneki noted steam that rose from the top of the coffee pot and smiled faintly. It was obvious that whoever made the coffee this morning was trying to get on his good side.

  
…Hinami. There was no doubt about that.

  
“I’m going to be very clear about this,” Kaneki stated, before taking an overly long, satisfied gulp from his mug. “After last night I’m going to have a good day. A really  _really_  good day. There will not be a single call from the school about any of you acting up and I refuse to deal with any more stress than what I’m dealing with now. So, before you say what you have to say, I would think very hard about it.”

  
“Ah… so you’re okay with somebody coming into Anteiku everyday to flirt with Hinami?” The younger of the two raised a brow. “Not to mention… this guy is an  _adult_.”

  
That definitely got Kaneki’s attention.

  
“He’s blonde, and usually wears this stupid yellow and black jacket. Do something with him, before I do.”

* * *

  
It was around 12:30 in the afternoon when Kaneki met Hideyoshi Nagachika.

  
Ken couldn’t look away. The yellow in his hair and on his jacket literally  _lit up_ the monotone look of the diner. How could he get away with being so damn cheery? The blonde didn’t even make it to his seat yet before flashing him a pearly white smile and even went as far to give him a small wave.

  
In all honesty, Kaneki couldn’t tell if he was pissed off by the cheeriness of it all, or captivated by it. Was it even possible to be  _that_  happy?

  
“Good morning!” Hide exclaimed.  _Damn, even his stupid voice is happy_.

  
Okay yeah, he figured it out. It was definitely pissing him off. Nobody was ever that happy.

  
“It’s the afternoon,” Kaneki replied and returned to scrubbing the coffee pot that was sitting in the soapy water in front of him. Without even having to look, Kaneki could feel the discomfort coming off of the customer in literal  _waves_. Wait no, he didn’t want this guy as a customer.

  
_Blondie it is_. It wasn’t like he would get to use the nickname that often anyway. This would probably be the last time he even sees Blondie in his establishment.  

  
“I’m going to make something perfectly clear.” The uncomfortable aura felt even more tense. Good. The intimidation was clearly working to Kaneki’s benefit. “I heard that you have gotten too close to my sister and disrespected my younger brother. Just think about that the next time you come in, or I will show you just how much I don’t appreciate your presence here.”  _Your stupid, sun shining presence._

  
What followed afterward was extreme, even for Kaneki. Usually words didn’t affect him because words could never really hurt someone unless you let them. Hide attacked his appearance; something meaningless to somebody who didn’t necessarily find himself attractive.

  
Why did he throw the punch? Even Kaneki couldn’t really understand his own actions; the only thing he did understand was the stress and pure anger that he felt. That and he was overdue for a cigarette which already made him feel tense to begin with.

  
Blondie laid on the floor in shock for a long moment before cradling a hand to his wounded face. Kaneki hoped there wasn’t any bad injury. Slowly, he crouched down next to him to survey the damage and was met with a pair of pained yet very pissed off brown eyes.

  
Very pretty, pissed off, brown eyes.

  
_I didn’t mean to, honestly_ , he wanted to say, but decided on keeping up with the facade of being somebody that no one wanted to mess with.

  
“Does my face look softened enough for you now?”

* * *

  
When he returned home later that evening, he was surprised to find Touka sleeping on the couch with Ayato playing on his handheld game system next to her. Hinami was at the kitchen table with a book and binder in front of her, slowly taking in the information of the text in front of her and making notes of it.

  
“Welcome home, Onii-chan,” Hinami said in a whisper with a huge smile on her face. “How is the diner?” Kaneki returned the grin, sitting down next to her.

  
“It’s fine. How is the reading?” For someone who struggled as much as she did with a poor reading comprehension, Hinami tried her hardest to do well with it. Her smile fell into a frown as she glanced down at all the notes. “Do you want me to help you?”

  
“If you don’t mind… or if you’re not too busy.” She reached into her backpack for a pencil case and took out one of her red pens.

  
“Of course I don’t mind. You can always come to me for help…you know that.” For good measure, he sat down next to her with a patient and kind smile on his lips. Her notes were all over the place; mostly a mess of one worded comments and unfinished thoughts. “Okay. What did you comprehend about what you read?”

  
“It’s an epic poem… written by Homer…”

  
“Yes good. What happened in the story?”

  
“The beginning of the story confuses me,” Hinami admitted. “All I have really understood so far was that a prince fell in love with a woman, who was already married to a king. There was a lot of stuff I didn’t understand… but the Greeks went to Troy and a war started. That was discussed in class though… we didn’t exactly read about it.”

  
“You’re right,” Kaneki affirms with a nod. “But… let’s go back to the stuff that confused you from the beginning.” On the page in front of him, Kaneki writes out a list of character names. “The protagonist is named Achilles. He was the greatest soldier in the Greek army. Then there’s Agamemnon; the king and leader of the Achaean army. The army kidnapped Briseis and Chryseis in a town that was allied with Troy and Chryseis father begged the king to return his daughter. When he refused, her father prayed to Apollo, who plagued the Greek camp.” He waited a moment for Hinami to jot down notes, before offering a comforting smile. “Homer wanted you to be confused… he started the beginning off in the middle of the story.”

  
“So… I’m not stupid for not understanding the beginning then?”

  
“Of course not,” Kaneki replied, reassuringly. Hinami looked up at him with her eyes glazed over and his smile fell.  _Wait…_

  
“I’m used to being stupid… kids at school think I am.” Hinami had bullies at school? How could anyone pick on someone like her; Hinami was one of the kindest people he knew of. He wished that this was some kind of sick joke being played on him and that his youngest sister didn’t have to deal with more on her plate than she already had. Without another thought, Kaneki pulled Hinami into a tight hug and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

  
“You are  _not_  stupid.” Once he pulled away, he kept a grip on her shoulders and made sure to really look at her as he said those words. “You are talented in art and you excel in other subjects. You know how to listen and anybody that strives to learn things as much as hard as you do are among some of the most intelligent people in the world.” A stray tear made its way down her cheek which Hinami was quick to catch with the back of her hand. “It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to understand something you’re trying to read Hinami… do you want to know why?”

  
“O-okay…”

  
“Even Achilles had a weakness… but it didn’t stop him from going down in history as the fiercest soldier of the Greek army. I know you can be just as courageous as he was…all you have to do is just build up that strong army that exists in you.”

  
“Thank you, Ken…” Whether it be a genuine smile, or a brave face, she put it on for her brother. “Um… I should probably tell you…” Pausing mid sentence, she looked over at Ayato who was still sitting on the couch with Touka asleep right beside him. She moved closer until her mouth was right next to her older brother’s ear. “Ayato is being obnoxiously jealous. That man that I’m sure he has told you about by now that comes into the diner… his name is Hideyoshi. He’s innocent.”

  
_Innocent?_

  
“Why would he lie to me, then?” Kaneki asked.

  
“He’s overly protective… and overly jealous. Surely you know that by now.” Hinami had an apologetic look on her face. “Hide is just a really nice guy… although he has a knack for lying about the food being any good.” Hinami stood up from the chair and offered a shrug. “Just… take whatever Ayato told you with a grain of salt.”

  
The rest of the evening went painfully slow; he cleaned up things that were left around the house and packed everyone’s lunches for the next day. Hinami’s books and school binder were placed neatly into a stack on the table so she could pick it up in one go in the morning. When he finally deemed the house to be in fair condition, Kaneki shuffled into his bedroom and collapsed on his bed with one thing on his mind.

  
_So…Hideyoshi. Blondie has a nice name._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First time writing an action scene :x Clearly I need to work on writing those in this story, but hey it gives me an excuse to do so! :D
> 
> Gah, I was and still am nervous about this chapter. :x


	3. Reinvention

"When you said you had a car...you failed to mention that it was in an  _accident_." This wasn't a car, this was a dented up soda can on wheels; not fit to be on the road, much less an actual  _race_. The paint looked like it had been literally scraped off from a side collision and there was a massive dent in the driver's side. Something that Hide only could hope that the original driver was okay.

  
"You said you would put the work into it." Amon voice had the slightest hint of a tease, which was strange coming from the superior. "It's...really not....as bad as it looks."

  
"Prove it then." The blonde crossed his arms and watched as Amon opened-- no,  _creaked_  the driver's side door open to pop the hood. It was a Veilside, so it was bound to be decked out with some of the nicest specs that money can buy. To actually walk up to the front and see that everything looked to be in working order and unaffected by whatever wreck the car was in was like some sort of miracle.

  
With a few small nods, Hide looked over at the older male with a satisfied look. "Okay. Fine... I can work with this." And really, he could make it work. A few hours working underneath what was probably an absolute beauty before the accident would probably make him feel otherwise. For now though, Hide could let himself hold out high hopes that he could turn a crumpled up mess into the sexiest car on the road.

  
Okay, maybe not the  _sexiest_  car, but a guy could dream right?

  
And so began the all the hard work; ordering exterior parts to replace all the dented areas and then spray painting the orange colouring back onto the areas where the paint got scratched off. It took about a week, which wasn’t too shabby for a rushed job. Surprisingly enough, it was the  _interior_  that he was excited about.

  
“Monitors, a nitrous oxide system along with a racing steering wheel… what do you need floorboard lighting for?” Takizawa asked, currently talking to Hide’s legs since Hide was working under the car.

  
“To match the underbody lights that I’m currently installing,” Hide replied, scooting forward slightly so he could stick an arm out. “Get me a bigger wrench, would you?”

  
“Is all this stuff really necessary, Nagachika-san?” The brunette kneeled down and looked through the red metal box right next to the blonde’s legs and sifted through until he found what he was looking for. “Do you know how much this is going to run the department?”

  
“Bragging rights, remember?” The question was followed by the sounds of something being cranked. “Also I checked the sound system earlier and it’s busted; there’s no sound coming from the driver’s side.”

  
“And?” Takizawa didn’t have to ask; all he was hearing at this point was the a small mental  _cha-ching_ in place of Hide’s voice.

  
“I’ll need a new sound system too.” Once he was sure that the lights were finally in place, Hide rolled out from underneath. He had grease stains on his shirt from having to fix an oil leak from before and it somehow got onto his cheek too. Takizawa looked at him with a stern look on his face, which Hide couldn’t help but to find amusing. “Takizawa-san… I know you’re not a car person, so everything that I’m ordering may sound outrageous-”

  
“It is outrageous. Who needs all that stuff for a vehicle? Nobody is going to really see the inside of the car anyway.”

  
“You’re wrong. It’s one of the first thing racers look at when they go to a meet up; it’s like comparing  _egos_. Who has the best ride… they’re interested in what’s under the hood, what the car looks like, and how much high tech gear you can fit inside.” A smirk rested on his lips. “That… and how  _fast_ you are. How well you can drift. How well you can handle doing  _both_.”

* * *

 

  
Three weeks after Hide finished up the final touches on the RX-7, word spread around about a race. The police caught wind of it, but kept their mouths shut. It was the perfect opportunity for Hide to really make himself known to the world he was trying to trick and most importantly, Kaneki. It would be nice to throw a smug look over his shoulder when he crossed the finish line first.

  
Okay now he was being cocky, but Hide felt good about this upcoming race; in fact, he felt so good that he wanted to give Takizawa a taste of the kind of world Hide used to live in. A time before Hide was handing out tickets and arresting people, a time when adrenaline coursed through every single vein in his body every time he clutched onto a steering wheel.

  
His superior waited in the empty parking lot when Hide finally showed up. Of course he had the music turned up so loud that Seidou could hear it from about a mile away and was grinning ear to ear at the finished product.

  
“So…?” Hide made a gesture to the car. “What do you think of the final product?” The excitement was evident in the undercover cop’s voice. Seidou didn’t respond and walked around so he could sit in the passenger seat. Obviously it was time to put on a mocking tone and answer the question for himself. “Oh yeah, Nagachika-san, it looks great! All that hard work you put into it really floored me.. in fact, I’m  _lost_  for words!”

  
“What did you want to show me, exactly? Other than the fact that… you can actually mock people really well.”  _Wow_.  _Was that a compliment? Shocker._

  
“Just curious… how fast is that Honda you drive?” A small look of fear spread across Takizawa’s face as he quickly grabbed for his seat belt. “This baby… I timed it this morning; zero to sixty in three point five seconds! I bet you always wanted to know how that feels.”

  
“Not particularly…” Now he sounded hesitant and gripped onto the belt tighter. As soon as Hide put the car into gear, Takizawa learned two things; zero to sixty in Hide’s car is a terrifying experience. The back of his head literally hitting the back of his seat and the absolute fear that surged through him and made his heart rate  quicken to terrifying levels. The second thing was so obvious that he really didn’t need to be the passenger in the speed demon’s car to figure it out; Hide has no chill. At all. Whatsoever. You could figure that out just going through Hide’s police records.

  
Once the initial fear of the speed was over, the brunette relaxed into his seat and took a giant sigh of relief. The car was getting faster and the giant smile on Hide’s face proved that he knew what he was doing.

  
“Okay… so we’re gonna leave the parking lot.” The words left his mouth slowly. Carefully. “I want you to see how fast this car can  _really_  go.”

  
“Are you serious? Hide. Just how many laws are you planning to break today? That’s why I agreed to the parking lot in the first place!”

  
“Seidou you do realise that I’m going to end up breaking a lot of laws while I’m undercover, right? Come on! How many opportunities do you think you’ll have in life to go 144 kilometers an hour?”

* * *

 

  
Cars with their hoods open on display to those that were interested, girls dressed in the skimpiest clothes possible, and guys who liked to run their mouths about the tech specs sitting in their cars.  All of it, this kind of exhilarating lifestyle cooped up within one of Tokyo's parking garages.

  
This was definitely the hot spot for the next race.

  
It didn’t take long once Hide parked the car for someone to come walking over. They locked eyes briefly; Hide’s in mild curiosity at what the other person was thinking and the other’s in, well, interest. He popped the hood so he could show off the inner bells and whistles before getting out of the car.

  
“That’s a very quality ride you have there.” Her voice was sweet;  _sickly_  sweet. You could probably get cavities from just listening to her. Something about the way she looked at him made him feel off and the last thing he was going to do was let that feeling slide. It came from  _just_  knowing how to read people. Which was just another skill from his life before becoming a cop.

  
“Thanks!” He offered her a grin, trying to play up the role of being prideful in his work. Wait no, he was full of pride over changing the car from what it was before into something that could be admired.

  
“You’re new here,” she stated matter of factly and a devious smile crossed her lips. “I’ll let it slide that you don’t know the rules of my garage because of it.”  _Her parking garage_? “You have to pay to stay. I’ll need sixty thousand yen.”

  
“Steep price,” he muttered, but reached into his pocket for his wallet. Luckily he got paid not too long ago, but he wasn’t necessarily anticipating having to pay to stick around.

  
“It gets even steeper if you want to race.” Her smile didn’t change but the gleam in her eyes made it look much more devious than before. “Which I’m betting will be… interesting this evening.” She knew Hide was locked in just by what she said; playing up the anticipation, the interest, leaving him with just enough information to lead him into possibly spending more money.

  
“Interesting how?”  

 

"This is the race that happens every year." She pocketed the money Hide had given her before continuing. "There's always four racers, but two in question always end up tying for the win. It's basically the call back race against Kaneki Ken and Kamishiro Rize. The other two racers that think they have the balls to compete for the win can never stand a chance...but they try anyway. It's quite pathetic."

  
"Hmm, I must be really pathetic then."  _Well, there goes my entire paycheck._ He took out the last of his cash. "How much?"

  
"I figured as much. All the new ones like to prove their something...it's funny when they find out they're  _not._ " She held out her hand to take the offered cash. "Another sixty thousand, Fresh Meat."

  
"Fresh Meat?" Interesting nickname but he's had far worse in the past. "And what do I call you?" Another sickening smile, followed by a childish sounding giggle.

  
"Call me Eto."

* * *

 

  
The garage became packed very quickly; at least three of the five floors were filled with cars and Hide found himself loving all their different characteristics. It wasn’t until he stepped off the elevator to the first floor that he found a few familiar faces from Anteiku. Hinami and Ayato passed right by him to get to the elevator not even noticing him (which was a good thing considering that Ayato hated his guts). Kaneki, clad in a leather jacket with a cigarette in hand, was sitting on the top of a black Mazda  _RX-8_ (ironically enough, his was also a Veilside). He was accompanied by someone he never saw around Anteiku before, but she sat alongside him. She had long purple hair that hung down about mid-arm, a pair of red glasses tucked into the pocket of a black, hooded jacket. A book was on top of her lap and she opened it up to show him the inner contents.

  
The car itself was very nice,well, at least Kaneki seemed to have a similar taste in cars. It could make wowing him with his own ride that much easier.

  
As he passed the cigarette over to his companion Kaneki turned to mention something to someone parked next to them, but immediately locked eyes with Hide instead. A smirk rested on his lips before saying something to the girl and getting off the car. There was probably another punch in his foreseeable future; Hide was sure of it.

  
He doesn’t move even though Kaneki was now making a beeline in his direction.  

  
“I’m racing you tonight,” Hide blurts out, face now growing a little warm at the cocky grin on the other male’s lips. Which, definitely should not be  _that_ attractive and he should really stop looking at his lips.

  
“Is that so?” Then he laughed, which wasn’t really at all what Hide was expecting. “You should back out while you have the chance.”

  
“Is that humour masked with intimidation, Kaneki-san?” He raised an eyebrow, forming his own smirk.

  
“Hardly.” The white haired male looked back to the girl sitting on the Mazda, now watching them both converse with each other in mild interest. “You should go while you have the chance.” Kaneki’s tone was a smooth monotone when he said those words and Hide couldn’t figure out if what he said was a threat, or a  _warning_. He assumed it was the first one.

  
“What if I said I wanted to up the stakes?” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the pink slip to his car and held it up for Kaneki to see. What he got in return was a raised brow. “Only if you win though. You win, you get my car. If I win… we start off with a clean slate.”

  
“...Why would you want that?” Kaneki took the slip in his hands and Hide couldn’t help but notice the blackened fingernails. “Why would you want anything from me?”

  
“Because…” Truth be told, Hide was really expecting for Kaneki to ask such a loaded question. It was one where one wrong answer could set him back in the investigation. He needed to gain Kaneki’s trust. “Well, why not? Is it so wrong to want to be on your good side?”

  
The other male didn’t reply and scanned the pink slip carefully. Luckily there was a load of false information that the police knew to keep secret, such as Hide’s actual last name, his address, and obvious other tidbits that could give away who he really was. With a look of uninterest, he handed it back to Hide.

  
“I don’t want your car. I have the newer model, why would I want that piece of old news? ” He folded his leather covered arms across his chest, and the tiniest hint of a smile returned to the other male’s face. “I don’t see how us being on good terms would be beneficial to either of us.” He looked down at the ground away from the blonde before tracing the edge of his chin in thought. “I’m better on my own anyway…” As if on cue, Kaneki was called back over to his car which was now surrounded by a few people now. He looked over his shoulder at them before turning back to the blonde. “You may want to go get ready yourself Blondie, especially if you’ve never been beaten in a street race before.”

  
 _Blondie_? Hide couldn’t formulate words over that… Kaneki actually managed to give him a nickname and the way he said it sent excited shivers down his spine that didn’t belong there. Little did he know that it would be the first of  _many_  times that the criminal would make him feel conflicted.

  
It didn’t help that Kaneki Ken was so  _hot_ , either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for a race? -waggles eyebrows;


End file.
